Some Days You Don’t Fly…And That’s OK

Discretion is the better part of valor. For my flying lesson last Tuesday, I experienced:

The Cherokee that I usually fly was down (a pin in one of the engine cover latches was gone; having this potentially fly open at altitude could prove to be problematic).

The second plane I tried to get was not on the flight line where it is usually parked. After walking around on the apron for 20 minutes, I headed back to the clubhouse and saw that I walked right by it, parked in front of a repair shop with the landing light removed. So that was no go. Now, a bit pissed that this was not taken out of service on the scheduler.

OK, take 3: I head to the clubhouse to check out a newer (read: more expensive) 172SP – the one I took my discovery flight in, in fact. Up to this point, I was agitated, but optimistic that once I got this plane checked out, everything would be cool. As I walked in someone was in the process of checking it out so he and the owner could do touch and go’s.

At that point, my instructor walked in and I told him how things were shaking out. I had been keeping him posted on my saga with the first two planes, so I’m sure he understood my agitation when I apprised him of the situation.

He – in his calm way – said “OK, first: We don’t have to fly.” To which I responded “OK, then I’m calling it.”

And that was that. The guy that got the third plane offered to pay the extra $15 difference for me to rent the final remaining 172SP, he felt so bad. I went of my way to assure him that it was cool because I was pretty much done. Things just went too far and my head wasn’t in it. So while I was already thinking about calling it off, my instructor helped me get across that line. Also, I really wanted to fly the Cherokee.

But this just reinforced what I’ve heard to date: We don’t ever have to fly. Typically, flights get called due to weather. But poor mental state – tired, distracted, upset, aggravated – is just as dangerous.

Besides, this is supposed to be fun. There are guys that have to fly – they’re Professional Airline Pilots. I’m a hobbyist. I’m paying to do this – no need to pay to have a shitty experience.

So, instead, we did ground school stuff. Talked about questions I had, some issues I had with the last lesson and general aircraft discussion.

Of course, I made an offhanded comment about toying with the thought of buying an aircraft to train in and that I thought it was a dark alley to explore. This led to a 20 minute discussion as to why it’s not as expensive as I thought.

Aw shit, son.

Of course, he said that the break-even point is about 100-hours of flight/year which, admittedly, I’m not there. There’s also the point that until the GF and I buy a house, I’d win douche of the year award if I bought a plane. So, until then, I rent.